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Egypt: The Tomb of Ramesses VI, Valley of the Kings, Egypt

The Tomb of Ramesses VI, Valley of the Kings, Egypt

by Jimmy Dunn writing as Mark Andrews

The tomb of Ramesses VI (KV 9) is certainly, for at least one reason, one of the most interesting tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Its decorations represent sort of a treatise on theology, in which the fundamental elements are the sun and its daily journey in the world of darkness. In general, the decorations provide the story of the origins of the heavens, earth, the creation of the sun, light and life itself. The decorative plan for this tomb is one of the most sophisticated and complete in the Valley of the Kings.

However, as it turns out, Ramesses VI was not much of a tomb builder, for this tomb was originally build by his predecessor, Ramesses V. It was only enlarged by Ramesses VI. Why Ramesses VI did not build his own tomb, as was certainly the tradition, is unknown to us. However, the inscriptions for Ramesses V found in the first parts of the tomb were not usurped, and it is clear that the brothers probably shared a common theology.

The tomb has been known of since antiquity, attested to by numerous graffiti. It was known to the Romans as the tomb of Memnon, and to the scholars of the Napoleonic Expedition as La Tombe de la Metempsychose. It was cleared of debris by George Daressy in 1888.

The tomb itself is somewhat simplistic, with no true stairways, but otherwise similar to other 20th Dynasty tombs. There are three corridors that lead to the ritual shaft, and then to a four pillared hall. This is followed by by two more corridors, a vestibule and then the burial chamber with its single annex at the rear. The last corridor (number 5) is unique, as the floor is sloping while the roof is horizontal. This was done to avoid part of tomb KV 12.

In this tomb, astronomical ceilings are found in each passage. The walls of the first through third corridors are painted with images from the Book of Gates and the Book of Caverns, a theme which is continued on into the vestibule. Note the lack of the Litany of Re, found in earlier tombs. The beginning of the first corridor has a scene of the king making offerings to Ra-Horakhtyfollowed by Osiris, now shown on both sides of the corridor. But rather than the Litany of Ra, the Book of Gates follows on the south wall and the Book of Caverns on the north. In the fourth and fifth corridors there are also passages from the Book of Amduat, and in the vestibule passages from the Book of the Dead. The walls of the burial chamber, where there is to be found a broken sarcophagus, are painted with illustrations from the Book of the Earth, while the astronomical ceiling have decorations from the Book of the Day and the Book of the Night. While the decorations are well colored with sunk reliefs, stylistically the art is inferior to most of the 19th Dynasty tombs.

It should be noted that the mummy of Ramesses VI was not found in his tomb, but rather that of Amenophis II. This tomb is also included in the subject of the well known Papyrus Mayer B, which records the robbery of the tomb during antiquity, probably before Year 9 of Ramesses IX.